My contribution to all the "turning pro" posts. LONG

I am a pro..well by most people's standards. I make my living through poker. I took the leap two years ago. I am 27, two children, mortgage, etc....

I can't give you advice, I don't know you or your situation well enough, BUT!!! You better know you're a winner. Not just be up over the last couple of months. You have to know before sitting down that there is no possibility that anyone has done more preparation, no one is paying more attention to the game, and no one is more relaxed.

Knowing the odds and being a short term winner isn't giving you an accurate view of reality. You have to be able to perform day in and day out at your best under the pressure of knowing that if you don't win--you don't eat.

I would recommend schoonmaker's Psychology of poker.

I can also give you some stats of my own. I started with 25K. I play in the $10-20 and $20-40. I only play about 8 days out of the month and I average somewhere around 9-12K a month. I play online everyday---small stakes. I play in two home games a week. It sounds great, BUT, I know I'm a great player. I also have a good bankroll and a college degree to fall back on. I study something to do with poker for an hour everyday and have for years. I excercise, eat very healthy, get plenty of sleep, etc... Between online and live play I average playing somewhere around 800 hands a DAY. I am a model of consistency and self control.

I'm not telling you this to brag, but you and everyone should know that poker takes the same attributes as any other profession to be great. Hard work, dedication, and consistency. You're not leaving one job to play poker professionally---You're leaving one job for another job.

If you don't treat it that way, or think it will be different for you YOU WILL LOSE

my honest opinion from your posts is that you're not ready...sorry, but I believe that you would already be president of the company you work for if you presently had what it takes to be a true pro. Succesful poker pros would be successful at anything they did. They are willing to do the things that others are not to be winners... Just like you could take just about any CEO or successful business owner and make a great poker pro out of them.

Sincerely,
unseasoned pro